If repeaters are unavailable after a disaster and you are limited to
simplex operation, a portable transceiver with its original flexible antenna is
inadequate for emergency communications.

I
started with a "handy-talkie" or "HT" when I first got my
ham license.Today, as Virginia
ARES / RACES training officer I recommend that new operators buy 2-meter mobile
transceivers.They cost no more
than a portable.Today's equipment
is very compact, rugged and reliable.For
portable operation, carry the mobile transceiver in a briefcase with a 17ah-gel
cell battery and telescoping 1/2 wave or magnetic-mount mobile antenna. Include
25 feet or more of coax to get the antenna up high, away from people.This arrangement may not work for everyone.Therefore, if all you have is a portable transceiver, the following will
help you to make the most of it!

An
"HT" makes perfectly good sense for:

·Anyone who doesn't drive;

·Commuters who use public
transportation;

·Controlling a mobile radio as a
cross-band repeater

·As a spare,
a backup or loaner.

The
National Institute of Science and Technology tested Public Safety
"high-band" VHF and amateur 2-meter antennas.Flexible antennas commonly used on portable transceivers have negative
gain compared to a quarter wave whip held at face level.This means that 5-watt portable
VHF with stock antenna has an effective radiated power of only 1-watt.Placing the portable on your belt produces-20db of attenuation, reducing EIRP to 50 milliwatts!UHF results are no better...

"Rubber
ducky" antennas are rubber
covered helical springs, which are intended to withstand some rough handling,
but they are notindestructible.Flexible antennas used on California fire lines for several weeks showed
a 60% failure rate.Flexible antennas should be replaced annually or as soon as
they show ANY apparent kinks, cracks, abrasion or other wear to visual
inspection.

An
effective expedient to improve a flexible antenna
is to attach a counterpoise(19.5" long for the 2-meter band, or 6.5" for the
70 cm band) of stranded wire, crimped and soldered to a battery clip or ring
terminal which will fit over the antenna connector.Reinforce the soldered connection with heat shrink to resist flex.When attached to the outer collar of the BNC connector or the antenna
shield, the counterpoise prevents transmitted RF from coupling with your body.
This enables it to perform like a center-fed dipole, instead of an "end-fed
dummy load!"The main lobe of
the radiation pattern can be "aimed" by, grasping and pointing the end
of the counterpoise in the direction where you need a stronger signal.

Some
after-market and home-made antennas performmuch better than the standard helical
"rubber duck." A J-pole antenna constructed of300-ohm twin-lead rolls up and fits into your pocket. When thrown up in a
tree, it increases both height and gain.Full-sized,
flexible 1/4 wave and telescoping 2-wave
antennas work very well.

A
quarter wave provides unity gain when used with a counterpoise and held at face
level.This represents a 5 dB
improvement over a stock flexible antenna, because most of the effective signal
is radiated.If operating
from a vehicle, connect your portable to a magnetic mount mobile antenna to
provide a clear RF path outside the vehicle.This overcomes the substantial attenuation, which results from operating
a portable unit from inside a metal vehicle.Always carry suitable adapters so that you can connect your portable
transceiver to an outside base or mobile antenna, when one is readily available.

In
marginal operating locations a telescoping, half-wave is much better,
because it provides the same unity gain without a ground plane that a 1/4 wave
antenna does when used with a ground plane.A 2-wave
antenna can be pulled up into a tree, dangled out a window, attached to a window
pane with suction cups, or be used bicycle or motorcycle mobile, or in city
driving on a window clip mount.A
telescoping half-wave increases useable simplex range of a typical 5 watt,
2-meter portable from about a mile with the stock flexible antenna to 3 miles or
more, depending uponterrain.Adding a counterpoise to an efficient antenna enables a portable unit to
keep in reliable contact within 5 miles of an EOC or base station equipped with
an efficient antenna elevated on a tower.

Telescoping
antennas are more fragile and work best when stationary or in the open,
avoiding side impacts or rough handling.Avoid
prolonged mobile use of telescoping antennas on window clip mounts at highway
speed, because excessive flexing loosens their internal electrical connections.Never collapse a telescoping antenna by whacking it down with the palm of
your hand. Gently pull it down with your fingers.If you note any wobbling or looseness, replace the antenna.

Flexible
antennas are safer when working in close quarters around people and are more
durable when walking through dense vegetation
for wildfire suppression or search and rescue operations. They better for
dual-band transceivers because telescoping antennas are usually mono-band.Dual-band flexible antennas approximate a 1/4 wave on 2 meters and a 5/8
wave on 70 cm, are optimized for one band and may resonate poorly on the other.How efficient a particular antenna is can be determined only by testing.A telescoping half-wave, or
half-wave, dual-band-mobile antenna with magnetic mount, will work well either
with or without a ground plane, and offer the best bang
for the buck.

Any
emergency antenna for your portable transceiver is rated to safely handle up to
25 watts of RF output. This enables it
to be used as an expedient antenna for a mobile radio in portable operation, or
to permit use of an external "brick" amplifier with the portable
transceiver.

A
magnetic mount works best on a car, but an improvised ground plane can almost
always be found around the home or
office, such as a metal filing cabinet, metal trash can, cookie sheet, rain
gutter, refrigerator, window air conditioning unit, balcony railing or any other
large metal object.On boats,
motorcycles, fiberglass truck caps or wooden balcony railings use a half-wave
antenna, which does not require a ground plane.

BATTERY
POWER BASICS

A
common error of new ARES / RACES operators is failure to plan to carry enough
battery power. Always
carry at least one spare charged NiCd pack and AA battery case, which enables
you to keep operating when the power goes off, if you can't recharge your NiCd
pack.

Cycle
and recharge dry NiCd packs monthly. Write
the recharge date on a strip of tape on each pack.In cold weather keep NiCd packs warm by keeping them in an inside coat
pocket and not exposed on your belt.

An
adapter cord to power your transceiver from an auto cigarette lighter plug or a
gel cell battery is needed for extended operation.Cigarette lighter cords are often unreliable because auto sockets aren't
the best conductors, due to contamination and size variations, which cause the
plug to vibrate loose.As an
alternate power source, you should still have one, because they are ubiquitous
and in a pitch, much better than nothing!

Portable
power packs such as Quantum are excellent, but expensive.We encourage our operators to make their own using 12-volt gel cell
batteries obtained from local hospitals.Sealed
lead-acid (SLA) batteries are used to power emergency lighting, alarm systems,
medical instruments and computer backup power supplies.They are replaced on a fixed schedule, usually before they are worn out.
Because SLA batteries require disposal as hazardous waste unless recycled or
reused, a hospital donation to your CERT
or ARES / RACES group reduces their disposal cost.Contact your local hospital and explain how SLA batteries they discard
can support auxiliary emergency communications.

Donated
SLA batteries must be inspected, recharged and load-tested.Any 12V batteries with an open circuit voltage (Voc ) of 12.8V
or more are tested immediately and distributed for reissue, if OK.Batteries with Voc <12.8V are connected in parallel across
a regulated 13.8V power supply.Those
which are not accepting charge after 4 hours are discarded.Total charge time and current should not exceed 140% of battery capacity.Gel cells should never be recharged at over 14V due to gassing.

Reject
batteries if their internal resistance exceeds an ohm, as determined by voltage
drop divided by the current load in amps.Good
batteries suitable for re-issue should not drop below 11.7V under a test load
approximating AC,@
their amp-hour capacity, for 30 seconds or AC/5"
for one minute.

A
simple test load for small gel cells up to 20ah is a 50w, 12V-marine/RV bulb or
automotive droplight. Thisequals about 3.8A, approximating a mobile radio on low power 5w transmit or
a portable 2-meter hand held, plus a laptop PC and packet TNC.Using two bulbs and 'Y'
adapter simulates mobile or brick amp at 25w RF output.This is a good test load for batteries to 30amp-hours.In a good battery, voltage drop
stabilizes quickly, does not fall below 11.5V under load, and recovers quickly
when the test load is removed.

STANDARD
POWER CORD CONNECTORS

Auxiliary
power cords should follow the configuration shown in the ARRL ARES Resource
Manual.Use twin lead, red-black AWG14 or AWG16 zip cord with Molex Series 1545,
2-pin polarized connectors and .093 pins.The
female pins are assembled into the male plug, which is attached to the power
source, and the male pins into the female receptacle, which is attached to the
rig.

The
plug, receptacle and pin set is rated for 8A continuous duty and costs $0.99
from Radio Shack, Part No. 274-222.Wiring is simple.The end of
the two-conductor Molex plug in cross section resembles a little 2-story house
with peaked roof.Remember
proper polarity by the word associations red
roof andblack
basement, or pointy
positive and flat
black. Crimp wires
before soldering to ensure a strong connection.After inserting the pins into the plug and receptacle, check fit of the
assembled fitting. Reinforce the wires behind the plug and receptacle with heat
shrink or tape.On the
battery ends attach crimp type female tab terminals to fit the male tabs on the
battery.

It
is recommended that you rig two sets of cords directly to your car battery to
power your portable or mobile radio, and laptop computer, if you will send data
via packet radio to your EOC.Splice
type fuse holders onto both leads, as close to the battery as possible.

If
all you have is a portable transceiver, the above information will help to
ensure that you can provide an adequate signal for reliable emergency
communications.Doing so is vitally necessary to enable your volunteer disaster unit to
complete its mission efficiently and safely.More training materials for amateur radio operators to learn essential
core skills in emergency communications are featured on the Virginia ARES /
RACES Training page located at: http://va-ares.org/Training/training.html

In these times, we need to be prepared for any contegency. The information on HT's is very timely. We need to carry a personal "kit" with us whenever we leave home. In addition to an HT with spare batteries and a rollup J pole. Other items include a small rugged 2 AA cell flashlight. In addition equip yourself with a cellular telephone with a spare battery, plus a disposible zinc air battery. The zinc air batteries are available at a lot of retail outlets for the specific cell phone you have. Now all of us don't subscribe to cellular service, the FCC has mandated that any cellular phone, regardless can dial 911. So dig up an old cell phone and throw that in you kit bag. Don't pick a phone that is specific to certain operaters, i.e. Sprint, Nextel, etc. Stick with an old 800 MHz phone that will operate on the orginal 800 MHz cell networks. Finally, be safe.

In east Tennessee, we are moving away from the Molex connector in favor of the 30 amp Anderson PowerPole.

The main advantages to the PowerPole are you only need one set of connectors for either side giving great flexibility without the need for adapters and you only need to inventory one connector.

The connectors can be assembled in a multi-connector block to allow a single power source to supply multiple items.

They are color coded so that, if you follow the convention, there is no doubt which is the correct polarity.

They do have two minor disadvantages. First you have to make sure you follow the correct convention in assembling the connector so as to be compatible with others.

Second, they are not available at the local corner Radio Shack. But, when purchased in large quantities, they get down to under a $1 a connector. I always keep a bunch on hand for new equipment and emergencies.

The molex connectors are indeed rather dated. The ARRL's Emergency Communications course now references the Anderson powerpole. As for the www.powerwerx.com site, I have been ordering from them for several years and have had nothing but good experiences. Highly recommended.

Good article! Perhaps you might like to expand it a bit to cover Li ion batteries for example. More of this type of article would be welcome on eHam.

1) Absolutely bravo on the use of mobile radios and not handhelds are the primary radios. Handhelds can't stand up to the duty cycles (50% or more) that's required in the field. Running 5 watts on the modern micro-mini handhelds will roast your hand in a minute of operation. It's more equipment, but run 5 watts off a mobile radio, and you'll never worry about overheating the rig.

2) If you have an early response to a difficult situation, you'll need to organize the response team as a number of individuals with handhelds relaying through a person in a mobile. This is until others can come onsite with portable stations comprised of 2m mobile equipment.

3) Let your antenna do all the work. My preferred antenna is the Diamond NB73BNMO on a NMO mag mount. It's a end-fed half wave at 2m, and co-phased 5/8 wave on 440. Requires no ground plane, is light and portable, can be used as a standalone antenna on a non-conducting surface or as a magmount on a vehicle.

4) I fully support the Anderson Powerpoles as the preferred connectors. Advocated in California, Pat, W0IPL and I tested these connectors prior to including them in the ARRL Emergency Communications Level I Course. It's the only inexpensive, durable, reliable connectors I know of that can handle up to 30 amps, that I can snap together in pitch black darkness, a fraction of a second, and not worry about mixing up the polarization or shorting out the connector based on exposed terminals. The molexes has a tendency to fuse together when high current is run through them.
If you want to be fully prepared, make several Powerpole-to-bare wire pigtails. You can always attach another type of connector to it and power the rest of your system. Note that the Powerpoles are independent of whether it's the end for the rig or the battery -- so you can use these pigtails to power your equipment, or your "guest's" equipment. That's something the Molex cannot do.

5) I highly encourage amateurs to be educated in emergency communications equipment, methodologies, and operations. They should be registered with ARES, RACES, SKYWARN, SATERN and similar organizations ahead of time and get the necessary IDs and clearances before it's needed.

The Anderson Power-Pole connectors are the way to go in this day and time. Two years ago I supported the molex (RS) connector. After working with the Power-Pole connector, I am recommending that all of our members in North Fulton GA move to that connector of choice. I have purchased a good supply of them, as they are not available around the corner, that was my primary objection two years ago. Useful items must be available to everyone easily. Easily is now a large stock for all. I have built 1-2 and 1-3 multiplier connectors for my ready bag, which now includes a 12A/12V gel cell.

Charles' web site in VA is very informative with lots of good info for all to not have to re-invent the wheel.

The only place I'd differ with Ron on antenna (I use Diamond versions of the type of antenna he described for Bike and Shelter operations) would be to go with the PL-259/SO-239 versions of the antenna. I find it much easier to interface the antenna with coax runs if I'm setting up a field expedient antenna site than with NMO. My spare mag mounts are of the same type, and I can easily plug extensions of coax into them to extend the run if necessary.

I also have SO239/NMO and NMO/SO239 adaptors I picked up at a hamfest to make sure I can use my antennas with the widest possible range of set ups I might run into.

Power poles are EXCELLENT. I have a variety of power pole jumpers to vaious types of connectors including "bare wire". I keep these in my emergency pack and take them with me on any community service net. I recommend these 110%.

Other things to have an extra of is a head set with microphone. I don't much care for speaker mikes, but the head sets free your hands to hear and keep the noise down. It also saves on your battery because you don't have the volume cranked. Having a spare helps if you happen to break a wire, or if someone doesn't have one.

For the WTC disaster relief efforts with NYC ARES and Red Cross, a handheld just didnt cut it. So I carried my Icom 746 and some wire in my bag, and a tuner just in case, and a 5/8 mag mount. You never know, a power station could be knocked out and there goes ALL of our repeaters, and you would need HF or VHF simplex. One of the other hams told me "are you going to do DXing down there?"

I said, "no, repeaters arent indestructible and we lost quite a few repeaters that were on top the twin towers". I carried my VX5, so that when I was moving I would be in touch, but a handheld simply wouldnt work from some of the sites. Too many fried eggs and chopping on the repeater. Also too many dead batteries. You need a mobile rig and some real juice. Handhelds just dont cut it anymore.

73, Ryan AB2MH
NYC ARES AEC Manhattan

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